Staining Cedar Wood: How to Keep It Colorful and Protected

Red cedar is a popular exterior wood on houses for its natural rich, red color. Used for shingles, trim, house siding,decking, fences, and gates, cedar is cheap, widely available, and functionally weathers well. But one downside is that cedar's lovely red turns a monotonous gray surprisingly quickly. Once cedar has turned gray, there is no natural way of going back. The only alternative at this point is to tone the wood. Maintaining your cedar's color is about choices, timing, and above all, the right type of treatment. To fully understand the best way to stain or treat cedar, you first need to understand the nuances of this unique wood's weathering process.

How Cedar Wood Weathers

Cedar wood deteriorates slowly, all due to its abundance of natural oils. From a structural standpoint, cedar more than holds its own. Untreated cedar fences can go for many years before they need to be replaced. Weathering begins immediately, then quickly slows to a crawl. Weathering quickly progresses into the wood to about two millimeters before it slows down. But over time, the weathered portion will splinter or flake away, exposing fresh wood to the elements.

Cedar's appearance is a different matter, though. When fully weathered, cedar takes on a light silvery-gray appearance. If you like the weather-beaten look of a seaside cottage or an old barn, cedar can develop that look all on its own.

But one aspect of cedar's weathering process that doesn't appeal to some homeowners is that it turns gray unevenly. While this process is not apparent over small areas, it is noticeable when you are looking at wide expanses such as siding. This effect is even more pronounced between different sides of the house, where the siding may experience sun, wind, or precipitation at different rates.

Cedar Treatment Basics

When treating cedar, the most vital question is how much of the real wood do you want to cover up? Do you like the natural but weathered look of cedar? Or do you prefer an even but unnatural look?

After installing your exterior cedar, you have about a two week grace period until the wood starts to discolor. After that, the color will rapidly change from red to gray.

Cedar treatments are much like house paint in that they are composed of pigments and solids. The more solids in the treatment, the longer the cedar will last.

Treating Cedar With a Bleaching Oil

If you want the gray, weathered appearance, but also want protection, you will need to take special unnatural efforts to make it look natural. Bleaching oil is a two-step process. First, the oil tones the wood with a light gray pigment to fix the color. Second, over a short period of time, the oil will accelerate the bleaching process so that you get the weathered look faster and more uniformly applied. The fully uniform weathered effect, though, will take between three and six months to develop. Cabot's Bleaching Oil is one prominent brand of oil appropriate for artificially weathering cedar.

Staining Cedar With a Semi-Transparent Stain

Semi-transparent stains are your best bet when you want the real look of slightly weathered cedar with protection. The few solid particles in this mix will not significantly obscure cedar's wood grain. However, with the semi-transparent stains, you will need to take care with the application. Manual brushing is often the best option since spraying can result in blotching. Semi-transparent stain also beads up water, preventing moisture from penetrating the wood's cellular structure.

Staining Cedar With a Solid Color Stain

Solid color stains have solid particles, but not nearly as many as paint. Thus, solid color stains let some of the cedar's grain show through, but none of the color. What you get is a very uniform opaque color. The upside is that solid color stains block most damaging ultraviolet light. Plus, this type of stain is excellent at repelling water.

Treating Cedar With Primer and Paint

Paint is your best option for treating cedar if your only intent is protection. Paint's solids ward off light, and light is the main contributor to the deterioration of cedar. Lighter colors last longer since they reflect light more efficiently than darker colors. It is notoriously difficult to mimic wood color with paint. If you absolutely want some type of wood appearance, paint is not a good alternative. Because of cedar's large pores, it is necessary to prime the wood before painting it.

Safety Note

Red cedar dust can cause asthma or exacerbate the condition in people who already suffer from asthma. Volatile compounds within the wood have been identified with this condition. When sawing, sanding, planing, or undertaking other activities with Western Red Cedar, be sure to use a twin cartridge respirator, not a paper mask.